Our Vinyl Night theme this week was Female Artists. Coupled with a request I'd had to feature today's singer, and I have the ideal excuse to listen to the music of Sandy Denny. 

She has been a Star Track previously, amazingly over 10 years ago now, with her song 'Who Knows Where The Time Goes', written when she was just 20 years old: (see here).

For those of you unfamiliar with her, this article on her life is really good. From 'Nostalgia Central" - click on this link.

Being it's Friday how about a 2-4-1 special (one track hardly seems enough).

First, this is a favourite of mine and was the first song on the Fairport Convention album 'What We Did on Our Holidays'. 'Fortheringay' was also the name of her short lived band in the early 70s. I have found an excellent tribute video by her daughter Georgia Rose Lucas that imagines the time of Mary Queen of Scots and Fortheringhay Castle.

Track 2

Is off the 1975 'Rising For The Moon' LP and is 'White Dress' - nice video images that begin with some rare live footage that has survived. Written by Dave Swarbrick and sung by Sandy Denny.

In Fairports at this time was her husband Trevor Lucas on acoustic guitar.

   

My notes for this week read 'something seasonal' ! Meaning Autumnal...

It begins with the warm harmonies of 'All The Birds' sung by Golden Oak, an indie-soul-folk band from Maine, fronted by sister-and-brother duo Lena and Zak Kendall, from their most recent album release 'All the Light in Autumn'.

Continues with 'Masquerading as a Star', 'Glass Bottles', 'I’m Not the Only Thing', 'The Flood' and 'Some say dreams / They can get you by / But all the birds are leaving / In the autumn light' - from the track 'Geese'. 

There's a clear bird theme running here [including the future environment / reoccurring dreams / paradise / greed / reflections on living]. 

Any of the above songs are Star Tracks, but 'Geese' has a nice loosely animated lyric video - as opposed to the others, that just feature the album cover: 'All the Light in Autumn' >

 

Check out Golden Oak's previous album 'Room To Grow'. 

And give this short video of '‘The Stable Song’ by Gregory Alan Isakov a listen - a wonderful vocal harmony cover by the group : Lena and Zak with Mike Knowles.

Finally that album cover featuring 9 birds - click here. 

   

An alternative (and occasional) music posting highlighting something out of the ordinary.
Perhaps of limited appeal, unconventional, experimental or just far-out !
Call it what you like (or switch it off, if you don't like). 

By way of a follow on from last Friday's Star Track featuring John Cougar Mellencamp singing about his 'Small Town', I discovered after coming across this artist, that he was from the same 'small' town of Seymour, Indiana, as him.

Stephen Wilson Jr. is a Country and Rock singer with a colourful backstory. (An 18 minute YouTube video is worth a watch, if you want to, click here). He is currently on a 'Gary the Torch' tour (playing Brixton Academy on October 22nd). And he definitely likes a name song: 'Henry', 'Billy' and this track called 'Gary' (On The Road). 

His story begins quietly enough by singing about 'there aren't a lot of boys named Gary these days' and builds to a more energetic pedal-steel guitar play out, which is wild. It's a bit Springsteen vocally with Stephen Wilson Jr.'s unique blend of country and grunge influences > Gary !

‘Gary’ was released in January 2026 as Wilson's first single. 

NB: Not to be confused with Steven Wilson, the British prog rock musician. 

  

"We all remember our hometown? Where we were born and grew up! Yet when you go back now you hardly recognise it." 

Once a small town, now part of a bigger community as boundaries overlap, it's no wonder it now feels different. But the line 'Well, I was born in a small town' still rings true for many.

You might see where I'm going with this and further references are coming in the weeks ahead (watch this space). For now it's John Cougar Mellencamp and his 1985 song 'Small Town'. That town is Seymour, Indiana and the song was recorded virtually up the road in his recording studio in Belmont - which also sounds like a small town. 

Such a great song >>>

No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from

I cannot forget the people who love me

Full lyrics are here - so you can sing along, on the ride, in the video.